Sealing device for a cylindrical package of flexible material

ABSTRACT

A combination of a cylindrical container and a closure for containing products in paste form. The closure device has a bottom (3) and an essentially cylindrical wall (4) that joins and extends out from the bottom. The closure has at least two radially inwardly directed ridges (5), which extend helically essentially from the bottom (3) to the free edge of the wall (4). Scale markings on the closure measure a portion of the product in the closure when the closure is partially opened and the container is vertical and sits on the closure.

The invention relates to a closure device for a cylindrical packing offlexible material, said packing being intended for paste products.

Greater and greater demands are being placed on packings being simplerand more environmentally friendly, but combining an environmentallyfriendly packing with simple use for the user at low price is in manycases very difficult. As regards relatively solid or semisolid products,i.e. products with a paste-like consistency, so-called hose-packings,are used today, which are simple and inexpensive. One problem is,however, that such a packing cannot be reclosed in a simple andsatisfactory manner once it has been opened. This means that after useof a portion of the product, it is difficult to store the remainingproduct in a satisfactory manner.

The purpose of the invention is to remove the above described problemand provide a packing which can be reclosed after a portion of thecontents has been removed. This is achieved according to the inventionby means of a closure device which has those features claimed herein.

The invention will be described in more detail below with reference tothe accompanying drawing, which shows, as an example, a preferredembodiment of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 is a sideview of a closure device according to the inventionmounted on a packing,

FIG. 2 is a plan view seen from above of the closure device shown inFIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the closure device according to FIGS. 1and 2, and

FIG. 4 shows a section through a closure device according to a secondembodiment of the invention, mounted on a packing.

FIG. 1 shows a cylindrical packing 1, which can be a so-calledhose-packing which is known per se. This packing is intended to containa relatively solid or semisolid product, such as dog or cat food, nutpaste, chocolate paste, butter, margarine, liverwurst or otherspreadable products.

At the lower end of the packing 1 in FIG. 1, there is a closure devicewith a closure means 2 according to the invention. The closure means 2has the shape of an upside down cover with a bottom 3 (see FIGS. 2 and3) and an essentially cylindrical wall 4, which is made in one piecewith the bottom 3 and extends in one direction therefrom.

On its inside, the essentially cylindrical wall 4 is provided with tworadially inwardly directed ridges 5, extending helically essentiallyfrom the bottom 3 to the free edge of the wall 4. As can be seen, eachof the ridges 5 only extends along a portion of the circumference of thewall 4, and the ridges 5 form a short thread with a large pitch angle.It should also be noted that the number of ridges 5 can be greater than2, e.g. 4, which can be of advantage for achieving stability during use.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the wall 4 on at least a portion 4aclosest to the free edge is made slightly conically with a largerdiameter at the free edge, i.e. the wall is wider at the top as seen inFIG. 1.

As is particularly evident from FIG. 2, the ridges 5 are evenlydistributed around the circumference of the inside of the wall 4. Theuse of three or four ridges is also suitable, which is, however, notshown in the drawing.

The wall 4 is also provided on its outside with scale markings 6, makingit possible to measure out a desired amount of the product in thepacking 1, as will be described in more detail below.

The closure device according to the invention functions in the followingmanner. When the packing 1 has been filled with the desired product, theclosure means 2 is mounted in place by being screwed onto the flexiblematerial of the packing 1. The ridges 5 produce threads by pressing inthe material in the packing 1 in the packaged product. In this manner,the closure means 2 can be securely screwed fast to the packing 1, saidscrewing being facilitated by the conical portion 4a of the wall 4. Thepitch of the ridges 5 is suitably selected so that the closure means 2can be screwed fast onto the packing 1 so that it will come into contactwith the bottom 3 after being rotated approximately 120°.

In a corresponding manner, the packing 1 can be reclosed after removalof the closure means 2 and removal of the desired amount of the contentsof the packing 1. Reclosure is achieved in a reliable manner by virtueof the fact that the closure means 2 will be in close contact with itswall 4 against the outside of the packing 1. Thus, the contents of thepacking 1 will be protected in a satisfactory manner.

With the aid of the scale marking 6 on the outside of the wall 4, it ispossible, by turning the closure means 2, to measure out a desiredamount of the contents of the packing 1 for removal. The closure means 2is screwed down completely, whereafter the closure means 2 is screwedback a sufficient number of markings on the scale marking 6 so that thedesired volume remains in the closure means 2, a mark is thereafter madein the flexible material of the packing 1, the closure means is screwedoff and the packing 1 is cut along the marking. The height of the wall 4and the distance between the scale marking 6 must be coordinated so thatit is possible to judge how great an amount of the contents in thepacking 1 there is room for in the closure means 2.

FIG. 4 shows a cylindrical packing 1 with a closure device according toa second embodiment of the invention. In this case as well, there is aclosure means 2 with a bottom 3 and an essentially cylindrical wall 4,which has radially inwardly directed ridges 5 in the same manner as inthe embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, there is also an inner closuremeans 8, which is joined to the packing 1 by means of glueing or inanother suitable manner, so that there will be a tight joint between theinner closure means 8 and the packing 1. The closure means 2 is thenscrewed onto the inner closure means 8.

The embodiment according to FIG. 4 is intended to be used for productswhich cannot be exposed to air for any longer period of time. Thepacking 1 is a so-called collapsible packing, which collapses as itscontents is used. In its simplest form, this is a hose-packing which isclosed at its upper end by a clip 7.

When the packing 1 is filled and unused, the inner closure means 8 isprovided with a bottom (not shown in the drawing), providing an airtightseal for the entire lower end of the packing 1. At the first opening ofthe packing, the bottom of the inner closure means 8 is cut off as wellas the end of the packing 1. Then the desired amount of the product issqueezed out of the packing 1, and the closure means 2 is placed ontothe inner closure means 8.

The invention is of course not limited to the examples shown above,rather changes can be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A combination of a container for a paste product and aclosure therefor,said container comprising a cylinder of flexiblematerial having one closed end and one open end to which said closure isremovably attached; said closure comprising a bottom and a cylindricalwall joined to and extending from said bottom, an internal perimeter ofsaid wall corresponding to an external perimeter of said open end tosealably close said open end when said closure is removably attached tosaid container; and said wall having at least two radially inwardlydirected ridges which extend helically essentially from said bottom to afree end of said wall, said ridges producing corresponding grooves in anexterior of said flexible material and inwardly displacing an interiorof said flexible material of said container when said closure isremovably attached to said container.
 2. The combination of claim 1,wherein said free end of said wall has a larger diameter than saidbottom, and wherein said wall tapers inwardly from said free end over atleast a portion of a height of said wall.
 3. The combination of claim 1,wherein said ridges are evenly distributed around said wall.
 4. Thecombination of claim 1, wherein said open end has a diametersubstantially the same as that of said cylinder to facilitate removal ofthe paste product.
 5. A combination of a container for a paste productand a closure therefor,said container comprising a cylinder of flexiblematerial having one closed end and one open end to which said closure isremovably attached; said closure comprising a bottom and a cylindricalwall joined to and extending from said bottom, an internal perimeter ofsaid wall corresponding to an external perimeter of said omen end tosealably close said open end when said closure is removably attached tosaid container; and said wall having at least two radially inwardlydirected ridges which extend helically essentially from said bottom to afree end of said wall, said ridges producing corresponding grooves in anexterior of said flexible material of said container when said closureis removably attached to said container, wherein said wall comprisesscale markings around a portion of a periphery thereof, said scalemarkings indicating an angular displacement of said closure formeasuring a portion of the paste product in said closure when saidclosure is partially removed and said container is vertical with saidclosed end up.
 6. The combination of claim 5, wherein said ridges have apitch so that said open end of said container contacts said bottom ofsaid closure after said closure is rotated about 120°.
 7. A combinationof a container for a paste product and a closure therefor,said containercomprising a cylinder of flexible material having one closed end and oneopen end to which said closure is removably attached; said closurecomprising a bottom and a cylindrical wall Joined to and extending fromsaid bottom, an internal perimeter of said wall corresponding to anexternal perimeter of said open end to sealably close said open end whensaid closure is removably attached to said container; said wall havingat least two partially inwardly directed ridges which extend helicallyessentially from said bottom to a free end of said wall, said ridgesproducing corresponding grooves in an exterior of said flexible materialof said container when said closure is removably attached to saidcontainer; and a cylindrical inner closure on said open end onto whichsaid closure is removably attached.
 8. The combination of claim 7,wherein said cylindrical inner closure comprises a removable bottom forclosing said open end.
 9. The combination of claim 7, wherein saidridges do not overlap in an axial direction of said wall.
 10. Acombination of a container for a paste product and a closuretherefor,said container comprising a cylinder of flexible materialhaving one closed end and one open end to which said closure isremovably attached, said open end having an internal diametersubstantially the same as that of said cylinder to facilitate removal ofthe paste product; said closure comprising a flat bottom on which thecombination is vertically supported with said closed end up, and acylindrical wall joined to and extending from said bottom, said wallhaving a free end with a larger diameter than said bottom, and whereinsaid wall tapers inwardly from said free end while leaving a portion ofa height of said wall untapered, an internal perimeter of said untaperedportion of said wall corresponding to an external perimeter of said openend to sealably close said open end when said closure is removablyattached to said container; said wall having at least two radiallyinwardly directed ridges which extend helically essentially from saidbottom to a free end of said wall, said ridges producing correspondinggrooves in said flexible material of said container when said closure isremovably attached to said container; and said wall further comprisingscale markings around a portion of a periphery of said free end, saidscale markings indicating an angular displacement of said closure formeasuring a portion of the paste product which descends into saidclosure when said closure is partially removed and said container isvertical with said closed end up.